HS Turku | The onion dome and icons disappeared from Luostarinmäki – Russian diplomats got a church from Turku for free, but now its use is over

Russian The building used by the Turku General Consulate as a church on Luostarinmäki should be empty by the end of today.

Turku has terminated the right to use the building, and the reason is the war of aggression started by Russia in Ukraine. This is what Turku’s head of international affairs says Mika Akkanen.

Instead, Russian diplomats can still use the cabin on Kakskerra island. HS reports about the cottage and the church building in the spring.

The city of Turku owns the building used as a church and has allowed the Russian Consulate General in Turku to use the building free of charge. The city of Turku, on the other hand, pays rent for the land in the cottage area to the area’s landowners.

Read more: Turku has quietly given Russian diplomats a church and a summer house in the best places in the city – Nobody seems to know what it’s all about

To the cottage and contracts related to a building used as a church are different. The cabin is about an agreement between states, Akkanen specifies.

“It used to be an agreement between Finland and the Soviet Union that to Turku and Leningrad [nykyinen Pietari] future general consulates and in both places there must be an opportunity for staff to refresh themselves. The agreement on the existence of general consulates is still valid between Finland and Russia, and thus also the agreement on the recreation area,” says Akkanen.

He states that if there are changes in the cooperation between the states of Finland and Russia, then Turku will react accordingly. According to Akkanen, the cottage is currently in use as before.

In the case of the church building, it is a matter between the Russian Consulate General in Turku and the city of Turku, in which case the city has been able to terminate the right to use the building.

“The city also has no reason to let buildings be used for free or without compensation. That’s also why it was justified to end the right of use,” says Akkanen.

Turku city facility services maintenance manager Soile Viiri says that the Russian Consulate General in Turku will hand the building back in the same condition as when it was used. The keys should be handed over to the city on August 1.

In July, the building was still found in the city’s systems under the name “Russian Consulate clubhouse”. According to Viiri, the name will change when the Consulate General’s right to use the building ends.

HS visited Vartiovuorenpuisto on Thursday, where you can see the building used as a church. The building is behind fences, so you can’t get very close to it.

The door of the red brick building was open, and there were several people in its yard. The shiny onion dome is no longer on the roof of the building.

Local according to the resident, the building used as a church has been picked up with a trailer a couple of times a week for about a month. The resident says that he noticed that the onion dome disappeared in the early weeks of July, the icons on the outer walls were already gone in June.

Red bricks have been carried out of the building, which has caused confusion among the residents, as it is a protected building.

Soile Viiri of the city of Turku is not going to see the space until next week.

“After all, there were also their own structures there. The bricks can come from them,” says Viiri.

He says that the interior has been built into the space, but the changes made are such that it is possible to return the space to the same way it was before. According to Viir, no changes have been made to the structures.

The building is located in the historical area of ​​Luostarinmäki.

“It is an ancient monument area. The protection order also applies to buildings, the entire area of ​​Luostarinmäki,” says Viiri.

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